Autumn Cleansing

Hello Friends~Welcome to Autumn. This is the season of the harvest, the fruition of all the growth of spring and summer. this is true for us as well, as we receive the benefits from our work and projects, our relationships, and our health from all the energy we put into these areas during the last six months. The seeds we have sown, now shall we reap.

Autumn is the season of gathering Mother Nature's products before winter's rest. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are all abundant; for example, citrus fruits, grapes, apples, pears, tomatoes, walnuts, sunflowers seeds, brown rice,corn, and wheat. As symbols of harvest and Halloween, squashes and pumpkins become plentiful by mid autumn.

We store the excess for the long winter ahead. canning extra fruits and vegetables, grain and see storage, and obtaining out wood or fuel stock and warm clothing for the cold,darker months are important now. Even is we're not growing our own food, autumn is still a time of preparation for the season of rest.

Autumn also marks the beginning of a cycle of personal turning within; with its first day the Equinox, when night's darkness finally equals the length of the day. After this, nights become longer than days until the winter solstice, the longest night. In autumn, our time seems more directed toward our work, our families, and projects at home.

These days of seasonal change around the equinox are a perfect time to cleanse your body and lighten yourself for fall's work. Like early spring, early autumn is a good time for a cleansing, but afterwards your diet may be fuller, richer, and more heat-producing than in spring, in order to carry you through the chill of late autumn and winter.

Its time to clear away finished projects and open up to the inner wisdom that you can experience in activities like contemplation, writing, reading, and nurturing your family as part of your preparation for the depths of winter. You will then feel a lot better and this potentially difficult transition will be easier.

Thorough a daily discipline of inner attention and physical exercise, you can create a more open, resilient, and supple body; a mentally and physically relaxed state; and a stronger resistance to disease. Using your body in dancing, yoga,tai chi, jump rope, or other solo exercises, and learning quiet breathing and relaxation will start your days in a more balanced, open state. And physical activity and exertion will help you relax more deeply and sleep more soundly.

For this reason and a few more personal ones, I begin my fall cleansing today. I use the Master Cleanse or 'lemonade diet' made famous by Stanley Burroughs. You can find the recipe here. I also supplement the 'lemonade' with mint teas, pure water, and dry skin brushing, nightly elimination baths and catnip enemas. This creates a state of clearness and freshening in my body that feels wonderful.